Christmas...

So, here is an update, per the threats that Dawn has been sending me lest I do so. We have had a fun holiday, despite the fact that my poor little fat dog, Alden is sick. He has a nasty cough and runny nose. The boy is so sweet though, that he still smiles, coos, and laughs. What more could I ask?

The boys were pretty excited on Christmas Eve. Well, Lincoln was excited thus making Emerson so, simply by virtue of the monkey see, monkey do creed. We had our traditional meal... A little German feast. It is my way of infusing my heritage into the holidays. :) We always have kielbasa, sauerkraut, potatoe patties, green beans and bacon, and normally, apple pie for dessert. I had to skip the apple pie though, as I had spent all day baking and making desserts and ran out time. So, despite the fact that Micah and his sister, who ate with us, refuse to watch It's A Wonderful Life, I was still in happy holiday mode...

That cheerfulness ended when Lincoln got up.

Very early.

Very, very, early.

3:55AM early.

Yes, you read that right... My son tried to get up at 3:55am.

He came in our room and asked if it was time to open presents?

NO!! I told him it was the middle of the night, and he could lay on the couch, but we were NOT opening presents yet.

At 5:30 am I woke up and he had moved himself to under the tree. It was cute though, there he was all wrapped in a blanket just watching the gifts and waiting, still awake!

I moved him to a chair near the tree and he knocked off at 6:30am. So, we opened presents at 8AM when the rest of us got up! :)

We are now living in a state of toyoverloadedness. Yes, Jessi, that is a new word, just for you! :) I think children lose the ability to play when there is toyoverloadedness... so some of these new goodies will be hidden away for a rainy day.

And, we now have a face to put with a name... Do you remember in the last post, I told about Emerson and his "other family." Well... we now know who Ha-her is... We were watching football on the 23rd and lo and behold, Em starts cheering, "Go my boy, go!!!" Then he proudly gets up and points to Drew Brees, the quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, and says, "That is my boy, that my Ha-Her."

"Really???" we all say.

"Yeah, that him." Emerson says.

So, Lincoln asks him, "Does Doh play football too?"

"No, he's a little guy." was Emerson's reply... to which we all fell over laughing!!! Where does this kid get this stuff???

Here are some pictures from my Christmas mini... I still have to get the pages of Christmas morning done, and then the mini will be complete! :)

I hope you all had a great holiday as well, and stay tuned... I am trying to make good on updating more often in the New Year... ROFLOL...

The Other Mom...

So this boy has informed me that he has, and I quote... "My other Mom."

"Huh? Your what?" I asked.

"I have another mom. My other Mom is Joy." (he has an aunt by that name, but I have been informed that its not her. I am thinking it is the girl at the bank drive thru window who he calls Joy instead of Joyce. So, because she gives him lollipops, she gets to be the other mom. )

Then he follows up with...

"And Ma, I have two boys."

"Really?" I say... "Two boys of your own?"

"Yes, Ma. Their names are Ha-Her and Doh."

"So," I ask, "You have another Mom, Joy, and two boys named Ha-Her and Doh."

"yeah. They at our house."

Well, alrighty then. That makes a Mom feel loved. He is creating a whole imaginary family. He even started telling me little stories about Ha-Her and Doh. Then a few days ago, he lets me know that there has been a new addition to their family...

"Ma, I have a new baby at my house."

"You do???"

"Yeah, his name is three."

"Three?"

"no, Ma, Three."

"Three? Right? The name is three?"

"no, Ma, Three."

"Three, Three right? I am saying three Em."

"Mommy, mommy, mommy. You not listening to me. Say THREE"

"Three?"

"Yes, Ma, dat is it. "

So, The Other Mom Joy, Ha-Her and Doh, and Baby Three, there you have it... his other family. I wonder who he is spending the Holidays with?

This morning my Coffee was especially good... Here is why.

The girls in our church small group were all out to eat and we grabbed a StarryB's after dinner. I was in LOVE with the above mug. I resisted though. Do you know why? I have a mug. We have about 8 mugs actually, and that is plenty... I am afraid of mass mug accumulation. Why you may ask? Because of my Mom... She has MASSIVE amounts of mugs at her house, and there are lots or rules about their use. It became frustrating when we would visit and could find nary a speck of cupboard space for all the baskets of mugs. I mean, I literally got fuming mad at her at a yard sale one time because she insisted on buying a "Cute little mug with a great handle." It even has an obnoxious owl on it. She now keeps it just to torture me. Lisa Z and Rhonda, who are reading this from the snowy city of Buffalo can vouch for the Mom-Mug issue. Come on ladies leave a comment and validate my fears OK? She has gotten rid of some now, thankfully, but really... if the greater Western NY area wanted to drop in for coffee, she has enough mugs to get them all a cup...

So, that is why I could not purchase said mug. My friends however felt I should have the above beauty of a mug, and last night they presented it to me. I admit it, I love the handle, and it is huge and nice. Thanks girls... it made my day! I vow to discard one mug in its place though... I love my mom, but fear the mug disease is catching. :)

In other news... here are the beautiful pages that some blog pals made me for a scrapbook of Alden. It is beautiful and I LOVE it!! It sits on our entertainment center for all to see. :) Thanks Nicole for getting me these photos! :)

And that is all for now folks...

Okay, okay, I am alive!!

Yes, I realize I have been a total slacker with the blog updates. Be prepared, as this one will contain a plethera of pictures and useless information about me and my current goings on.

First, the Fat Dog Update...
Alden is growing like a weed! He is so cute and snuggly. I love to take him for his naps cause he really does snuggle into you, and he is all rolly polly. :) He hardly ever fusses unless he is tired or hungry and if you take care of that, he is back to smiley boy. Here is his November mini book. It has been done, just not posted.



And here is the fat dog himself...


and the two proud brothers...


We got our tree up and decorated. I didn't even know you could fit 8 ornaments on a single branch. I think the words "Calm Down" and "wait" were said oh, like 4,532 times. I would have liked to put a tree in the boys room but Old Emerson is so curious these days. He is very mechanical, likes to take things apart, eat them, etc. So, he will either be an engineer, builder, or that weird guy at the circus who eats car parts and glass and stuff. I get all teary eyed thinking of the pride swell and the free peanuts...

In other Christmas news...
Here is my mini book's cover.

It is a cool book that Beth sent me and I am so glad I can work on it now that this

book is done. If you want to see the Thanksgiving one all done and pretty I put it in my FLickr show on the right. ----->

And Lincoln aka the Grinch declared a couple weeks ago "Mom, I know Santa is not real." Now, I know this happens, but man, we were watching Rudolph for goodness sake! We have never made a big deal out of Santa, like "You better be good or Santa won't come." kind of thing. So, I asked him "How do you know that?"

His reply, "Mom, it is just a man in a costume..." complete with the my-mom-is-so-lame eye roll. Alrighty then...
So, we have a long chat about NOT telling other kids this as it will spoil their fun and it is between them and their parents when they find this info out. I even try the whole, besides, gifts and Santa are fun and we enjoy them, but you know Christmas is really about Jesus' birth. I explain how even if there were no presents under the tree we would still be able to be happy because of Christ's birth. Now, I am giving myself the ol' spiritual pat in the back. You know the one that says, (a bit too pridefully.) I am so good, I am instilling the true meaning of Christmas, he gets it. This is so cool and non commercialized. I think I hear the Its A Wonderful Life Theme playing in the background...

Well... that pride is BUSTED when ones young son informs the kids at school that Santa is dead and if you love him you do not love Jesus and God cause they are what Christmas is all about. NICE! That's my boy... I had no idea he would interpret my talk this way. I felt like such a bad parent. We had another looong talk, and it included a chat about judging others, ruining things for others, etc and no ice cream at the coffee shop. Let me tell you, that was one pitiful face to see...watching his brother get ice cream. I think the Easter bunny is safe now ... :)
So... I am out of here before this one doesn't get posted... and Dawn, you better be the first commenter! LOL.

Finally....

I have my new Dell here and Micah got it set it up this weekend. I am a happy cyber girl now. :) I forgot how many things I rely on my computer for too. Printing pictures, copying documents, uploading LOs, and of course staying in touch with the blog world. Now we just need to get all my scrap stuff cleaned up and this office will be good to go.

We have been busy being parents of a newborn. Alden is now 8 weeks old. Isn't he cute? HeeHee... I know I am biased but... One little dimple cheeked grin from this guy and I am smiling too. He has been doing great at night, about 10-6am... until this weekend. He woke up at 3 and 3:45 a couple times and I was like "Whoa, dude... once you've been to 6am, you don't go back." So, today it was 5am... a tad better, but the other two were 7 and 8 am babies by this point so I am a little perplexed by this matter. I am a woman who likes her sleep you know. Other than that, his dry scalp is the only matter of concern. Come on, I am a hair dresser... it is very important to me for my children to have a healthy, cradle crap free head. And no, that is not a typo, I call it cradle crap. I do a little baby oil/lotion scalp treatment to get rid of it, but old Alden is trying to keep his... again... perplexing me. And the "little" stinker weighed in at 14lbs 8oz. at his 2 month check up. He is a hoss I tell ya.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving. We went to Micah's sister's and had a lovely meal whilst children played and screamed and had fun. And Mel, Emerson bit his cousin on the butt. Yes, the butt... as she was climbing up the bed ladder... can you muzzle kids??? LOL. I did NOT shop on Friday. Lincoln and I ran a few errands Saturday and were lucky enough to park next to an entire discarded turkey. Yes, you are reading that right. It was there in the Staples parking lot, all over with its gross looking bones and leftover innerds and such. Really, if you are sleeping out so early that you had to bring your turkey dinner with you, at least clean it up. And hello??? What one earth was so great Staples anyway??? People are nuts I tell ya'.

Here is the Thanksgiving Mini book I made. I just have to get the photos in it now. I love how it came out. I channeled my inner Beth to make a mini in time, and my inner Vee to make the various sized pages. I had to take pictures because my scanner is not working yet. I also think I will add some ribbon to the jump rings ala Ronda. :)

I'll post some pics when it is done and has pictures too.

Now I must go get started on putting away frozen milk and hopefully getting my Christmas mini going... thanks to Beth I have a great little book to use, and I can't wait to get started. I think by virtue of the fact that Beth, the undisputed mini book Queen has touched said book, it should come out wonderfully... :)

ETA: Ok friends, please e-mail me. In the computer switch my addresses are not there in my address book anymore... I am sure there is a way to find them, but this non techno-savvy gal cannot figure it out... Just put "Here's my address you dummy Jude" in the subject line :)

Computer Obituary

yes, it is true... we are mourning the loss of my dear HP. He was a good computer, full of little glitches and quirks. Sickness plagued HP as of late and when the final virus took over, there was nothing Micah and his IT guys could do to save him. Our valiant HP underwent reformatting, disk scans and defrags... in the end, he succumbed this weekend and was pronounced dead, officially, tonight. HP leaves behind a grand list of favorites, blog friends and millions of files and photos to numerous to name. In lieu of flowers please send all memorial contributions to the Dell company.

I can grab Micah's computer a bit at night, but other than that I am out of commission until the new one arrives. I can check my e-mail, but cannot send replies. Why??? Like I know, please, I just wrote an obituary for my computer!! LOL.
I did want to say...

Greta - saw your post and was ROFLOL... and hello... I am sitting on 2000 oz. right now! (yes, that is 2000 frozen oz.)

Nicole, Beth, Dawn, Chanel, Melissa,Linda,Tannis, and Kim... I got the baby book today... You guys are AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT, and was seriously in tears as I looked through it. Thank you does not cover it. Micah was duly impressed as well. I wish I could scan it and show it off, cause it is so COOL... hopefully soon. The colors are perfect - my favorites too! :) I cannot believe you all did that for us, it is so so so thoughtful. Thanks again, I am truly appreciative beyond words. :)

OKay, that is all the time I can steal for tonight... I still need to order my groceries. I am loving the online grocery shopping... now if only someone else would carry it in from the car! LOL...

Computer troubles...

M computer is very sick, I think I broke it. :( Anyway, I can only hijack Micah's laptop for a few minutes here and there so if I haven't returned an e-mail or visited your blog, forgive me! Hope to be back soon....

yep, we even have indoor plumbing!!

Have your kids ever said anything in public that made you realize people were staring at you like the Bearded Lady at the Circus??? We got to have such an experience at Target last week Saturday. I ventured out with Lincoln and Emerson, and we had to hit the baby aisle to grab a few things for Alden. Lincoln sees one of those racks for the dishwasher that they make for bottle parts.
He immediately says
"Oh, mom, let's get this for Alden"

I replied "No, honey, we can't use that it is for a dishwasher."

This is when THE statement is made...
"Mom, what is a dishwasher?"

This woman looked at me like I had three heads. I just said, "Yep, you are looking at our dishwasher... it is old, moody, doesn't always work well, and needs to be replaced."

I know it is weird in this day and age for people to not have a dishwasher, but we don't and the fact the she looked like that was akin to using an outhouse, struck me as funny. I did have to hold back from saying something along those lines, like... "No, honey we's can't use that until your daddy gits is that fancy indoor toilet and shower!"

Anyhoo... here are some pics from Halloween. We went to the festival at Lincoln's school. Lots of candy, lots of fun. :)

We had Spiderman, (minus the mask, he wanted his ball cap instead...) and a skeleton.


It was hard to get Em to understand that we wanted HIS picture, not the pumpkin's...

The sweetest skeleton ever... When he heard me say I forgot Alden's blanket he ran in the house and got HIS because it would keep Alden "really nice and warm." Awww, what a great big brother.

I toted Alden around the festival in the Baby Bjorn. Let me tell ya' that little fat dog gets HEAVY after two hours and my back is now screaming. He was so cute all snuggled in though, this is him eating his bottle in there even. :)

Good news for the home team too... My friend Sarah and her husband have offered to let us borrow their freezer to store milk. :) That is a HUGE help as we were going to have to buy one this weekend, THANKS GUYS!!!!

ETA: I forgot to include a picture of my mini project for Alden. I got these mini-books from Creative Imaginations last year to use for the baby. There are 12 in a little case, so it is perfect for a little monthly book for Alden's first year. Beth said Ali has something similar in her new book... well, you know great minds DO think alike. HA!!! (don't i wish!) Here is September's book. I did cut off one page cause they are really snug in that case and I knew they would not all fit back in with paper and pictures, etc. That is my only gripe with the them, you can't add any chunky embellishments like buttons, chipboard letters, etc. :( I will be channeling my inner Beth to make these too... if any of you don't know it, she IS the mini book Queen. Seriously, check out her blog and pay her homage...

RAK winner...

SO, I finally went back and read the weight guesses for Alden. Some of you are so cute thinking I was going to pop out a 7 pounder!! ROFLOL... um, not quite. So... the winner is Ronda with her guess of 9 lbs 6oz. (Remember the big man weighed in at 10lbs, 6½ oz. :) ) So... Ronda, I have something that will be going out to you shortly. :)

In other news, I am back to feeling normal, and the dairycowedness state is going well. SO well in fact that we need to buy another freezer for all the milk. We have an upright freezer, but I am literally cooking the food out of it just to make room for the milk I am freezing. So... we are going to have to invest in another one. I have been searching Craigslist to no avail, so I guess this means we have to head to Sears... unless one of you has one and can send it to me... haha.

I have been reading alot whilst pumping. I have not found an easy way to scrap and do it so... I flew through three books that Melanie sent me. They were great reads, and I will gladly send them on to someone else if you want. ( they were all by Diane Mott Davidson, Catering to Nobody, The LAst Suppers, and The Cereal Murders.) Then last week Saturday I grabbed a Jodi Picoult book, The Pact, while in Target... It was nice and long so I figured it would be a good one to last awhile whilst pumping. (yes, I must say WHILST when referring to pumping, it gives some measure of dignity.) ... um, not so. I could not put it down and finished it by Wednesday. This is why I do not buy books. :) I think I will hit the library this week instead eh?

The six week mark is fast approaching, that means I will need to start some exercising again. Really, your body should get thinner with each child, and in better shape. I mean you are creating life and helping the human race to continue, so it would be a nice perk. Alas, that is not the case, and before anything goes any further south, I must hit the weights.

Here are a couple pictures of Alden smiling. I LOVE it when Lincoln and Emerson get him to, so so cute. :)

Here is my latest LO for UnPubbed, go and participate K??? :)

4 weeks already???

Can it be??? 4 weeks have already passed? I cannot believe it was that long ago that I was buzzing around here in my last fits of nesting, getting ready to give birth. 4 weeks and I am still so in love with my new little man. :)





Where have I been? Because I truly expected to be back in the swing of things in blogland and normal life too...
Well, a nasty case of mastitis rendered me totally and utterly (oh yeah, pun intended... ) out of commission. I have seriously never been in so much pain, and would literally give birth 20 times over rather than endure it again. I am finally starting to feel better, thankfully. And it has helped immensely that Jen, my mother in law and today, my friend Amy have helped with the boys and such. Plus, I am still getting meals brought to me. Yes, I have had 4 weeks of meals from friends and church family... talk about making my life easier. Jen got it all together, scheduled everyone, etc. and has gone waaay above and beyond what the title best friend can say. (and so have the meal volunteers, I mean, we have not had the same thing twice, and everything has been sooo good.)

Sooo... here are a few more pictures from the past couple weeks, and a few life lessons learned ala Jude...
oh, and now that the knockedupedness journey is over, we are entering the Dairycowedness phase... (this is pre mastitis by the way.)


Life lessons from the mom of a newborn...
1. You would not believe how comfortable I have become living, literally in my pajamas. I take this whole blog title thing very seriously you know...

2. A towel placed between the teeth whilst pumping through mastitis will muffle your voice enough so that your visiting mom won't keep asking if you are "okay in there".

3. Though I found the maternity bathing suit (read here) shopping a real D-D-Disaster... the "I am so full of milk bra shopping" is going to prove to be an E-E-Eventful thing as well... and no, I am NOT G-G-Going to elaborate anymore if you don't get that.

4. You should never, and I repeat NEVER place the ibuprofen next to the stool softener they send you home from the hospital with... cause at 11:30 pm the bottles and pills are pretty similar and well... 4 pills later, you will know they are NOT the same!

5. It is okay to not post or comment on your friends blogs for like a month after giving birth cause they will all still love you right???
um... right??? :) :)
This beautiful hooded towel is courtesy of Greta. She made Alden this one, a white one and two burp clothes, all personalized. The woman should open an Etsy shop!! :)